Coil-handling mechanism



May 28, 1968 J. l. DIXON COIL'HANDLING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledAug. 15, 1966 United States Patent 3,385,417 COIL-HANDLING MECHANISMJohn I. Dixon, Fox Chapel Borough, Pa, assignor to Mesta MachineCompany, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Aug. 15, 1966, er. No.572,377 3 Qimkns. (Cl. 198-25) AESTRAJT OF THE DHSCLOSURE Acoil-handling mechanism having a rotatable member with a plurality ofcoil-receiving stations transferring a coil from a first movabledelivery station intersecting the path of the rotatable member to asecond delivery station intersecting the path of the rotatable memberwhile upending the coil through 90.

The present invention relates to coil-handling mechanism, and moreparticularly to apparatus described for rapidly transferring coils ofstrip material or the like, of various sizes, between stations which aredisposed on differing elevations or in which the coil is disposed indiffer ing oriented positions or both.

Although particular reference is made herein to handling strip steel, myimproved mechanism can be advantageously employed for handling othermaterials.

In the steel fabrication industry, steel strip is frequently handled inthe form of coils which may weigh up to 50 tons and may have an outsidediameter and width of up to 86 or more inches. The coils are necessarilybulky and heavy and therefore require massive lifting and tiltingsystems. Conventional tilting mechanisms or up-enders, because of theirmassiveness and the weight of the coil loading are rather slow inoperation. Accordingly, it is virtually impossible for a single tiltingmechanism of mown construction to accommodate a single high speed, hotstrip mill, which is presently capable of producing 120 or more suchcoils per hour.

In the manufacture of steel strip, the strip is coiled upon a tensionedreel as it comes from the rolling mill. Owing to the weight of thecoils, it must be handled with considerable care to prevent damage tothe strip. As the reel is usually supported at one end only, with itsaxis horizontal, the coil must be removed from the unsupported end ofthe reel with the coil axis also in the horizontal position. In furtherhandling the processing of the coil strip such as stacking the coils ina furnace for annealing, or in various inspection and storagingprocedures, it is desirable that the coil be disposed with its axisvertical and thus it becomes necessary to up-end the coil after it hasbeen removed from the reel.

It is also necessary at various stages of the manufacture of steel stripto unwind the coils of strip, for example, during pickling operations.This is accomplished by placing the coil on a payoff reel, which acts asa center spindle during the unwinding operation. As the reels arepreferably handled in the vertical axis position during the intermediateoperations they must be turned through 90 to permit them to be placed ona payoff reel having a horizontal axis. It will be understood thereforethat my improved coil-handling mechanism can be readily adapted for usewith tension reels where the axis of the coil is turned or up-ended fromhorizontal to vertical or with payoff reels where the axis is turned inthe opposite direction from vertical to horizontal or with other stripor coil-handling equipment such as conveyors.

The problem of handling heavy strip steel coils is complicated by theuse of conveyors or the like for removing the coils to or from the stripreels and other items of coil Patented May 28, 1968 handling orfabricating equipment. It is diflicult to abruptly alter the conveyorelevations and concurrently change the position or up-end the steelcoils, i.e., from a horizontal axis position to a vertical axis positionor vice versa, particularly between the collector conveyor and thestoraging facilities conveyor. in known forms of up-ending equip mentfor this purpose the equipment must receive the coils from one conveyor,up-end the coils to another conveyor, index the coils off the up-ender,and then return the upender to its down position. With the time sequenceinvolved it is virtually impossible for the conventional upendermechanism to keep pace with recently developed hot strip mills. Aspointed out previously this problem is aggravated by the extremely largeweights of the coils and the massiveness of the coil-handling equipment.

In my invention, I have eliminated the aforementioned problems byproviding a coil-handling mechanism comprising a rotatable member havinga number of coil-receiving stations, and means for rotating saidrotatable member so that a coil when placed in one of saidcoil-receiving stations is transferred from a first coil deliverystation to a second coil delivery station, said delivery stations beingmounted adjacent said rotatable member. In specific examples of theinvention, the rotatable member can be operated in a single rotativedirection both for turning or up-ending the coils and for raising orlowering the coils between coil-delivering stations at differingelevations. My coil-handling mechanism, in one illustrative arrangementthereof, is organized for transferring coiled strip from one conveyor toanother, where the conveyors are at differing elevations and/ or wherethe coils are horizontally disposed on one conveyor and verticallydisposed on the other. The construction of my novel mechanism is suchthat auxiliary equipment for indexing the coils on or off my mechanismis obviated.

With this novel arrangement, there is no waste motion of mycoil-handling mechanism; for example, the mechanism never has to reverseits motion in order to pick up the succeeding coil. In other words thecoil-handling mechanism is continuously rotated in a given directionduring all of the described handling operations, with the result thatthe time required to return conventional coil up-enders to receive thenext coil is eliminated. Thus, my mechanism can utilize a power systemfor delivering the required energy over a longer period of time, sincethe required torque is reduced by half or more. In the case of anelectromechanical power system, a smaller AC drive can be utilized, orin the case of hydraulic systerns, smaller and lower pressure systemscan be used.

My novel coil-handling mechanism is capable of handling coils of varioussizes and can be easily modified for accommodating conveyors or otherstrip handling equipment disposed at the same or differing elevations.Moreover, varied horizontal distances between the conveyors or stationscan be readily accommodated. Finally, the numerical and load capacity ofthe coil-handling mechanism is considerably greater than that ofconventional equipment, and thus my mechanism is not threatened withobsolescence by the rapidly increasing capacities of present day hotstrip mills.

In the foregoing paragraphs numerous objects, features and advantages ofthe invention have been alluded to. These and other objects, featuresand advantages of the invention will be elaborated upon during theforthcoming description of certain presently preferred embodiments ofthe invention, together with presently preferred methods of practicingthe same.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown certain presently preferredembodiments of the invention and have illustrated certain presentlypreferred methods of practicing the same, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of one form of coilhandling mechanism of myinvention and including conveyors and an intermediate coil up-ender andelevator;

FIGURE 2 is a vertically sectioned view of the mechanism shown in FIGURE1 and taken along reference line IIII thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of another form of coilhandling mechanismarranged in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a similarly vertically sectioned view of another form of thecoil-handling mechanism shown in FIGURE 3 and taken along reference lineIVIV thereof;

FIGURE 5 is a relatively reduced, elevational view of another form ofcoil-handling mechanism of the invention arranged for up-ending andelevating coils to another elevation; and

FIGURE 6 is a similar view of still another form of coil-handlingmechanism of the invention, illustrated for purposes of transferring andup-ending coils between stations at the same elevation.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, the illustrative formof the invention shown therein comprises a coil up-ender 10 which isgenerally interposed between a first horizontal conveyor 12 and asecond, generally similar conveyor 14, which in this example is mountedat a different elevation as better shown in FIG- URE 2. Desirably, eachof the conveyors 12 and 14 is of a double chain or split construction,with the chains and associated components of each conveyor beinggenerally longitudinally aligned with a pair of spaced side plates 16and 18 forming part of the rotatable member or coil up-ender 10. Whenthus spaced, the side plates 16 and 18 and the respective chains of theconveyors 12, 14 can accommodate therebetween relatively short, and inthis example, single chain transfer conveyors 20 and 22. The transferconveyor 20 thus projects between the adjacent end portions of the chainruns forming part of the conveyor 12 while the transfer conveyor 22similarly projects between the chain runs of the other conveyors 14. Asbetter shown in FIGURE 2, both transfer conveyors 20, 22 extend betweenthe paths of the load bearing projections 24 and 26 of the up-ender sideplates 16 and 18, when the up-ender 10 is rotated.

In the arrangement shown the segments 28 of the transfer conveyor 22 areeach provided with a longitudinally extending shallow V groove 30 toaccommodate the circumferential surfaces of coil 32 in its horizontalaxis position as better shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. On the other handconveyor segments 34 of the transfer conveyor 20 are substantially flatto accommodate coil 36 in its vertical axis position.

The side plates 16 and 18 of the coil up-ender 10 are mounted in thisexample upon a horizontal shaft 38 provided with bearing journals 40.The shaft 38 is suitably constructed, as is suitable supportingmechanism (not shown) therefor for bearing the extremely heavy loadsimposed thereon by the coils and by the weights of the side members 16,18 as shaft 38 rotates. For rotating the shaft 38 and the spaced sideplates 16, 18 rigidly and spacedly secured thereto, suitable drive meansare provided (not shown) which can be reduced in size relative to thedrive means of conventional coil-handling mechanism as a result ofdriving the up-ender 10 in a single rotative direction and therebyeliminating the necessity for indexing and reversing the up-ender 10.

Each of the side plates 16, 18 is provided with a plurality of pairs ofco-operating load-carrying projections 24, 26. As better shown in FIGURE1 the projections 24, 26 of one side plate are angularly alignedrespectively with the projections 24, 26 of the other side plate so thatpairs of the projections 24 or 26 co-operate to form load-carryingplatforms of the coil up-ender 10. If desired, platelike members or thelike (not shown) can be secured to the cooperating pairs of the loadbearing lateral edges of the projections 24, 26. In this example thesurfaces 42 of each pair of projections 26 are disposed substantially inthe same plane in order to support the flat side of the coil adjacentits vertical axis position 36 at the conveyor 20-. On the other hand,the load carrying surfaces 44 of each pair of projections 24 areinclined toward one another in order to support the circumferentialcontour of the coil adjacent its horizontal axis position 32 at theconveyor 22.

In the arrangement of the up-ender 10 shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 eachrotatable member 16 or 18 includes four of the load carrying projections24 arranged in an alternating array with a similar number of loadprojections 26. Accordingly, the coil up-ender 10 is rotated through intransferring, up-ending, and elevating a coil from the position 36 onthe lower transfer conveyor 20 to the position 32 on the higher transferconveyor 22. In this example the fiat surface projections 24 aredisposed respectively at about right angles to the inclined surfaceprojections 26 so that the coil is moved from its vertical axis position36 to its horizontal axis position 32 during each quarter turn of theup-ender 10 and resultant transfer of a coil thereby. In making this andsucceeding transfers, the up-ender 10 is rotated continuously in thedirection denoted by arrow 46 (FIGURE 2). It will be understood, ofcourse, that the up-ender 10 can be rotated in the opposite direction inorder to transfer and up-end coils from the higher conveyor 22 to thelower conveyor 20, in which case the coils are tip-ended from theirhorizontal position 32 to their vertical position 36.

To effect the aforementioned changes in elevation, as better shown inFIGURE 2, the plane of the load-bearing surfaces 42 of the projections26 is displaced a smaller distance from the rotational axis 48 of theshaft 38 than that of the plane defined by the top edges of theloadcarrying surfaces of the projections 26, with the result that thecoils are raised or lowered between the coildelivery stations,represented by coil positions 36 and 32 on conveyors 12 and 14respectively depending upon the direction of rotation of the up-ender10. The distances of the aforementioned planes 50, 52 from therotational axis 48 are indicated by dimensional arrows 54 and 56,respectively, and of course the difference between the distances 54, 56represents the difference in elevation between the coil positions 36 and32 on conveyors 12 and 14.

It will be understood that the number and spacing of the loadprojections 24, 26 can be varied depending upon the amount of resultantangular displacement, if any, which must be imparted to the axis of thecoils as they are moved between the conveyors 12, 14 or other stations.For example two each of the projections 24, 26 can be provided generallydiametrically opposite on each of the plates, 16, 18, with one of thegroups of projections 24 or 26 being provided with a bracket or the like(not shown) extending generally parallel to the surfaces of the otherprojections to provide load-bearing surfaces for the other flat side ofthe coils, as the latter are turned through about for those applicationswhere his desired only to elevate the coils without changing their axialdispositions.

In the latter arrangement of the invention the rotatable member 10 (or10' of FIGURES 3-5) may be stopped momentarily at the associatedconveyors respectively to facilitate coil loading and unloadingpurposes.

As better shown in FIGURE 5 of the drawings, it will be appreciated thatthe load bearing surfaces 42' of the projections 26' can be disposed ona plane 50 passing closer .to the shaft axis 48' as denoted bydimensional arrow 58 and/or the load bearing surfaces 44' of the arms24' can be disposed on a plane 52' displaced farther from the shaft axis48' as denoted by dimensional arrow 60, or both. Accordingly, the coilsare elevated through a greater distance, for example, about 2 /3 timesthe distance indicated in FIGURE 2, as they are moved from theirvertical position 36 to their horizontal position 32 on conveyors 62 and64 respectively. It will also be appreciated that the respectivepositions of the planes 50,

52f can be reversed with respect to the shaft axis 48', along with theelevations of the conveyors 62, 64 with the result that the. coils arelowered a similar distance for the same direction of up-ender rotationas denoted by arrow 46.

It will be seen, moreover, from FIGURE 6 that the planes 50', 52', inwhich the respective load-bearing surfaces 42, 44' lie, can be displacedthe same distance from the shaft axis 48', as denoted by dimensionalarrows .166, with the result that the coils are up-ended betweenconveyors or other stations without positive or negative changes inelevation.

The coil up-ender of FIGURE 5 or 6 can be constructed as described abovewith reference to FIGURES 1 and 2 or below with references to FIGURES 3and 4.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURES 3 and 4 of the drawings,another form of the coil-handling mechanism is disclosed wherein thecoil up-ender 10' is arranged for transferring coils directly from thedouble chain conveyor 12' to a double chain conveyor 14' disposed inthis example at a different elevation. In this arrangement of theinvention, the single chain transfer conveyor 20, 22 of FIGURES 1 and 2are eliminated and the double chain conveyors 12', 14' are placedcorrespondingly closer together as shown. The side plates 16, 18' of theup-ender 10 of FIGURES l and 2 are likewise eliminated and a singlerotatable plate member 68 is substituted. The plate member 68, however,is provided with similarly disposed projections 24', 26 and is securedto shaft 38' for rotation therewith. Each of the load-carryingprojections 24' or 26 is provided with a generally transverselyextending load-carrying plate 70 or 72. The widths of the plates 70, 72are such that they pass closely between the adjacent end portions of thechain runs of the conveyors 12', 14, respectively, so that the plates70, 72 can pick up and deliver coils to the conveyors 14' and 12respectively. In this example, the plates 72 are provided with a flatload-carrying surface to accommodate the coils adjacent their verticalchain outline portion 36 while the load-carrying plates 70 are providedwith a V trough or rounded surface to accommodate the circumferentialcontour of the coils adjacent the horizontal position 32' thereof.

If desired, the single plate member 68 of FIGURES 3 and 4 can befabricated from correspondingly thicker or otherwise stronger structuralmaterial as indicated in FIGURE 3 or the plate member 68 can befabricated from a pair of relatively closely spaced plates andstrengthening truss arrangements therebetween (not shown) to provide thenecessary structural strength to transport the largest coilsencountered.

In FIGURES 2 and 4 the smaller coil outlines 74, 76 or 74', 76 indicatethat my novel coil-handling mechanism can accommodate coils of varioussizes in either the horizontal or vertical positions.

With thecoil up-ender 10 or 10 as described herein it will be readilyapparent that it can accommodate for example 240 coils per hour whendriven at a speed of only 1 r.p.m. Since the fastest present day hotstrip mill produced only about half this number of coils per hour, itcan be seen that my coil-handling mechanism can easily keep pace withpresent day hot strip mills and moreover will not be obsoleted by futuredevelopments and corresponding increases in production. Furthermore, thevery slow speed of rotation of my up-ender 10 or 10' permits the use ofa relatively small and inexpensive drive mechanism therefor.

In the operation of my invention with reference primarily to FIGURES 1and 2, the rotatable member 10, which comprises the side plates 16, 18and the shaft 38, thus has a number of coil-receiving stations 31preferably spaced equidistantly about the periphery of the rotatablemember. Each of the coil-receiving stations 31 includes, in thisexample, first load-carrying means comprising the surfaces 42 of theassociated projections 26 and second load-carrying means comprising thesurfaces 44 of the associated projections 24. As the rotatable member 10is turned the first load-carrying means 42 successively move intopositions of generally parallel alignment with the adjacent end portionof the delivery conveyor 20, which end conveyor portion thus constitutesa first coil delivery station. A coil is moved to the first delivery station denoted by chain outline 36 as one of the first load carrying means42, for example 42a, is moved by rotation of the rotatable member orup-ender 10, into a position substantially flush with the top surface ofthe com veyor 20. At this time the associated second load-carrying means44 has been moved out of the way as indicated by the position of theprojections 24a. Further rotation of the up-ender 10 causes theprojections 26a, which in this example, straddle the adjacent endportion of the chain portion 20 to pick the coil off the conveyor 20.

Further rotation of the up-ender 10, in this example through aboutbrings the coil to the coil position 32 whereat the coil now restsentirely upon the other or second load means 44b and the associatedprojections 24b straddle the adjacent end portion of the other singlechain portion 22. Further rotation of the up-ender 10 transfers theweight of the coil from the second load-carrying means 44b of therotatable member entirely to the adjacent end portion of the conveyor22, which thus constitutes the second coil delivery station. Theconveyor 22 then moves the coil 32 to the right as viewed in FIGURES 1and 2 and out of the way of the associated projections 26b. Thisarrangement thus permits continuous rotation of the up-ender 10, withoutstopping and without additional equipment for indexing coils thereof.

At the first coil delivery station represented by the conveyor 20 eachpair of the load-carrying projections 26 26 of the rotatable member, inthis example, are moved successively into positions of substantialparallel alignment with the adjacent top surfaces of the conveyor 20, asbetter shown in FIGURE 2. At the second coil delivery station theload-carrying projections 24-24- are successively moved into positionsof substantially similar parallel alignment with the other conveyor 22.

Substantially the same relationships occur in the mechanism illustratedin FIGURES 3 and 4, wherein turning of the rotatable member having asingle plate member 68 causes the single projections 24' and 26' of eachstation 31' to be successively straddled by the adjacent end portions ofthe main conveyor 12' and 14'. The adjacent end portions of the mainconveyors 12' and 14 constitute, in the latter example, the first andsecond coil delivery stations respectively.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that novel and efficient forms ofcoil up-ending mechanism and related equipment have been disclosedherein. While I have shown and described certain presently preferredembodiments of the invention and have illustrated presently preferredmethods of practicing the same, it is to be distinctly understood thatthe invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variouslyembodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. Coil-handling mechanism comprising a rotatable member having a numberof coil-receiving stations, each of said stations including first andsecond projection means disposed independently of the projection meansof others of said stations, first and second coil delivery stationsintersecting the path of said rotatable member stations at angularlydisplaced positions thereabout, each of said stations including movableconveyor means, said first projection means being alignable instraddling relationship with the conveyor means of said first deliverystation, said second projection means being alignable in straddlingrelationship with the conveyor means of said second delivery station,and means for rotating said rotatable member so that a coil when placedin one of said coil-receiving stations is transferred between said firstand said second delivery stations.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said rotatable memberincludes a pair of substantially identical laterally spaced plates, saidfirst and said second projection means include an alternating array offirst and second projections on each of said plates and laterallyaligned with similar projections on the other of said plates, theconveyor means of each of said delivery stations include a pair ofgenerally parallel conveyor structures disposed outwardly but generallyin the planes of said rotatable member plates and a transfer conveyorextended between the nearer end portions of said conveyor structures andpositioned in straddled relation between the respective rotational pathsof said plate projections, each lateral pair of said first projectionsbeing aligned in straddling relation with the transfer conveyor of saidfirst delivery station when at said first delivery station and eachlateral pair of said second projections being aligned in straddlingrelation with the transfer conveyor of said second delivery station whenat said second delivery station.

3. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said rotatable memberincludes a single plate, said first and said second projection means arean alternating array of first and second projections formed integrallywith said 8 plate, a load-bearing platform is mounted on each ofgenerally apposing surfaces of each pair of said first and said secondprojections at each of said coil-receiving stations, each of saiddelivery stations includes a pair of generally parallel conveyorstructures, the nearer end portions of the conveyor structures of eachdelivery station straddling said first and said second projections andthe load bearing platforms thereon, said first projections each beingaligned in straddled relation with the conveyor structures of said firstdelivery station when at said first delivery station, and said secondprojections each being aligned in straddled relation with the conveyorstructures of said second delivery station when at said second deliverystation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,426,569 8/1947 Stewart 214-1302,538,408 1/1951 Baker 198-33 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,363,024 4/1964 France.875,438 6/ 1942 France.

RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Primary Examiner.

